Fluffy Awareness
by UnderdogHero
Summary: Jake manages to strike a nerve with Ray, and Kyle is left doing damage control. Or so it seems. He's not too sure anymore.


A/N: I was... actually stuck on ideas to write, since most of my ideas were already written but unfinished and I didn't feel like opening them up again. So this happened. It's actually a really old idea that I never got to write.

Assume this is around 8-9 friendship points with everyone, otherwise it wouldn't make sense.

And I know the fourth game had them listed as "Schmooly" but I remember one installment where they were specifically called "Fluffy" which I personally prefer more. It might have been Frontier or Oceans, because I remember getting my ass kicked by one on a console game.

 **.**

Kyle stared at the board in amazement and mild disbelief.

" _Fluffy Awareness Event!_

 _For too long the Fluffy race has been mistaken for and/or compared to Woolies! Now is the time to give them the recognition they deserve!_

 _To take place Autumn 15th at the crossroads. See Ray or Cammy for further details._ "

"There's really something wrong with this town..." He mumbled. Barett, who had been passing by, heard this and came up to see what he was talking about.

"Oh, that." He said distastefully, frowning. "It's Jake's fault, actually. "

Kyle turned to him in surprise, more from his statement than his sudden appearance.

"Really?" He asked, because he couldn't figure out how something Ray was involved with could have to do with _Jake_ of all people. Barett nodded.

"Yeah. Max got a pet for Ray, and Jake mistook it for a Wooly last time he got sent to the clinic. Ray flipped out, they had a fight, and he went to dad about this weird idea. I guess Cammy heard about it too if she got invovled..."

He trailed off, a thoughtful expression on his face, before shaking his head.

"Anyway, he talked dad into allowing this thing to happen. And it's happening."

Kyle nodded, looking back at the poster. It was bright, colorful, and the words were large. It stood out considerably on the request board, where everthing else was relatively plain and written on various scraps of paper.

"I can't see it _not_ getting attention, with how... _unique..._ it is." He said, for lack of better wording at least. Barett noticed his awkward phrasing and patted his shoulder.

"I suggest you go along with it. Don't wanna end up on Ray's bad side - he _is_ the next doctor for this town after all, and he rarely ever forgets anything." A shiver ran down Kyle's spine, but Barett continued. "Besides, I got dragged in too just by being friends with the guy. Max fully supports his idea, so you'll be seeing him there too."

Of course _Max_ would be the one funding this. Anything for his best friend, no matter how eccentric. Actually, it was probably because it was such an eccentric idea coming from _Ray_ of all people that he went along.

"Jake is in trouble." Kyle said, and Barett scoffed.

"He can defend himself. He's got a really sharp spear."

 **.**

The next day, he ran into Cecilia and Julia, who were carrying a large box filled with what seemed to be Quality Cloth, iron, Wolf Fangs, and-

"Is that Paralysis Poison?" He asked, suddenly alarmed. While he knew Cecilia wouldn't do anything dangerous with it, he could hardly say the same for Julia.

Both girls exchanged a glance, the looked back at him.

"Nooo..." Julia said, trying and failing to sound less suspicious. Kyle raised an eyebrow, and she huffed. "Alright, it is, but Ray needs it!"

Then it clicked.

"Is this for his "Fluffy Awareness" thing?" He groaned. He had hoped the young doctor would have dropped his silly event, but it seems like he'd simply gotten more people in on it. Cecilia at least looked a _little_ embarrassed.

"I know Jake doesn't think it matters whether it's a Wooly or a Fluffy, but I think this is something people need to know. Fluffies are naturally stronger than most Woolies, so someone could get hurt if they made the same mistake! I'm sure Ray is just trying to get this out there."

 _Oh it's out there..._

Julia seemed to notice his skepticism, and grinning.

"You'd be amazed. I heard from Alicia that when Jake called it a Wooly, the little thing tackled him right out of the clinic! Talk about a Fluffy powerhouse!"

He almost winced at that. Jake was far from being weak.

 _Just what kind of pet did you give him, Max_. He was sure the aristocrat had a good reason for it, but he wanted to hear it from the man himself.

 **.**

"Why did I give Ray the Fluffy? Because he wanted one, of course!"

Kyle bit back a groan. He should have _known_.

"You know it's the whole reason he's doing this, right? Are you just feeding his obsession?" He asked tiredly. Max hummed.

"To be honest, his liking for Fluffies _does_ worry me, but he's still young. I believe it'll pass once we're older." The blond said. Kyle sighed.

"How did it even _start_?" He asked. Max was the most likely person to know, seeing as he's been friends with Ray the longest.

"Hmm..." Max thought for a moment, then snapped. "I remember! I gave Ray a Fluffy doll back when we were kids-"

"So it's your fault!"

"-then Jake dropped it in the ocean when we were playing by the pier two years later!" He frowned now. "Maybe that's why they don't get along well."

He didn't doubt it one bit. Ray didn't seem the type to hold a grudge, but then again, he didn't seem the type to go out of his way to start an entire event based on _Fluffies_.

While he considered this, a thought occured to him.

"Is that why you gave him the Fluffy? To get him over his grudge against Jake?" He asked, suddenly changing his opinion of the man. The reason was a lot deeper than he thought someone like Max was capable of, but he supposed butting in to other people's affairs was something he did.

"Hm? Oh, uh, yes! That's why I did it!" He laughed, and Kyle took it all back. "Actually, my main reason was for defense."

"... Huh?"

At Kyle's blank look, Max waved a hand.

"Ray is far too fond of exploring the mountains, more than someone with his disposition should be. While he's a skilled hand with magic, you can only do so much on the field." He said with a sigh, shaking his head. "I thought a powerful monster would make up for his lack of combat experience and put my mind at ease, and it did!"

Kyle suddenly realized where Ray must have gotten that Cyclone Staff he was so fond of carrying around.  
"So... you gave him a _Fluffy_ of all things so that he wouldn't be in too much danger?" He said slowly, trying to sort things out. While it was a good reason, it certainly didn't lessen the animosity between the doctor and a certain half-elf. Max nodded.

"That's right. Although it seems all it's protected him from is Jake's insensitivity..."

Kyle was out the door before he even finished his sentence. Jake or Ray, he needed to talk to one of them _now_.

 **.**

He found Jake on his way to the Blacksmith, arm in a sling and looking _very_ disgruntled.

Well, putting it kindly. He looked like he was ready to bite someone's head off.

Kyle made sure his sword was within reach. With Jake, you could never be too sure, even if they were _kinda_ friends now.

"Jake!" He called out, and the elf, turned around, frown deepening.

" _What_." He snapped. Kyle winced at the large discoloured bruise on his cheek. There were more on his arms, and probably under his shirt too, but he didn't feel like asking. He was pretty sure Jake could still wield his spear, even one-handed.

"Uh, I wanted to know if you've seen the request board recently..." He said. Jake snorted.

"Oh, I've seen it. Ray made sure to tell me my attendance wasn't the least bit necessary."

Ouch.

"You're... not mad at him, are you?" Jake gave him a look that said that was a _very stupid question_ , and sighed irritably.

"I'm not _mad_." He grumbled. "I'm just annoyed that he's making such a fuss over one specie of monster! Wooly, Fluffy, what's the difference! They're sheep either way!"

He continued his rant for a while, and Kyle had the sneaking suspicion he was probably late for work, but he finally finished it with "I bet he'd freak out if I mixed up a Silver Wolf with a Gold Wolf. Which I wouldn't, because the difference is obvious!"

After letting his catch his breath, Kyle spoke up.

"Do you think maybe it's that mindset that made him so mad?" He asked, eyebrows furrowed. Jake gave him a confused look. "I mean, the Fluffy is his friend, right? Wouldn't you get mad if someone mistook... Cecilia for a normal human? Figuratively! I'm speaking figuratively!"

He raised his hands in defense when Jake reached for his spear, and the elf sighed.

"So? What kind of comparison is that, we're both obviously elves." He said. It was Kyle's turn to sigh.

"It's obvious to everyone here because they know you both, but to a stranger that's never seen an elf before, he'd think you were human too. There's not that big a difference, physically."

Jake's ears twitched, and Kyle frowned.

"Besides that. And anyway, I'm pretty sure Woolies and Fluffies have a different fur color."

"How so?"

"Wooly have black faces and limbs. I think Fluffy are brown."

There was a short silence as Jake processed the bit of trivia, before he groaned loudly and hung his head.

"That's it?! Fine, you know what? Tell Ray I'll stare at his Fluffy for as long as it takes to memorize the difference - but only if he promises to call off that stupid event!"

Well, he could make it happen somehow. Maybe he'd get Barett to help with that.

 **.**

Luckily for him, both Ray and Barett were at the same place when he came by - more specifically, they were at the pier around lunch time. Alicia was nowhere to be seen - probably hanging around the general store - which was probably for the best.

"Oh, hey Kyle." Ray greeted him with a smile. He was seated next to Barett, who had a fishing pole in hand. A few feet away and staring into the water was what Kyle assumed was Ray's Fluffy.

"Hn." Barett didn't look away from the line, watching it bob up and down. That was fine, since he probably knew what Kyle was there for.

"Hey..." He said hesitantly. He wasn't too sure how to go about asking Ray to give up on his "Fluffy Awareness Event", partly because he didn't want to hurt the other boy's feelings and partly because the Fluffy was now giving him an odd look, and he didn't really want to go swimming in what he was sure was a monster-infested ocean.

Not that Barett seemed to have any problem fishing in it.

"I actually wanted to talk to you about your Fluffy issue." He said, eyeing the monster. He hoped the way he said it didn't give away his own issues with it.

Ray gave him an odd look, but nodded, motioning for him to go on.

"Well, I was just wondering... is it _really_ necessary to do something like this? I mean, I'm sure if you talked it over with Jake-"

"Does Jake have something to do with why you're talking to me about this?" Ray asked flatly. Out of the corner of his eye, Kyle could see Barett watching them, slowly reeling in his line.

"No, of course no- Yeah, he does." He quickly aditted mid-sentence when Ray gave him a _look,_ and sighed. "Look, he said he's willing to figure out the difference between a Fluffy and a Wooly for you if you agree to call it off."

Ray hummed, rocking back and forth on his heels. His staff swayed behind him, glinting in the sunlight, and Kyle sincerely hoped he didn't feel the need to use it.

"Tell me, how was he acting when he told you this." He said, looking up to the sky. Kyle was confused, but he spoke anyway.

"He seemed... really frustrated? And he didn't really get why you were angry until I told him mixing up Fluffies and Woolies is like mistaking an elf for a human."

At this, Ray couldn't help but burst into laughter. Even Barett let out a small, short laugh. Kyle would have laughed too if not for the fact that Jake could _probably_ hear them, even if he ws indoors.

"So he said.. he'd be willing to learn if I say I'll stop the event from happening?" Ray said once his laughter died down. When Kyle nodded, he smiled. "Alright then, no problem."

Kyle blinked and stared at Ray, then looked to Barett. The man shrugged, turning back to the water and casting his line again. At his dismissal, Kyle ended up looking at the Fluffy, who now stood by its master and held his hand.

"... What." He said, dumbstruck. Ray grinned.

"I never really got that approved - actually, I didn't even ask Mayor Byron about it. I just asked him if I could post a joke on the board, and when I explained why, he said okay."

Kyle still didn't quite get what was going on, so Barett filled it in for him.

"Basically, it was a prank on Jake." He said. "The girls and Max were in on it too, in case you were wondering."

He let the information process for a moment, then slowly lowered his head into his hands.

"I sholud have _known_." He said. Ray gave him a pat on the shoulder.

"Don't worry Kyle, I was just getting him back for drowning the doll Max gave me all those years ago." He said cheerfully. "But now that he's willing to learn from his mistakes, I can give Moo orders not to tackle him anymore."

Kyle looked back up at him, now very confused.

"... Moo?"

 **.**

Three days later - on the day of the supposed "Fluffy Awareness Event" - Kyle walked into the clinic to see Jake seated in the floor next to the frony desk, staring intensely at Moo, who was chewing on a carrot and staring right back. There was a notebook in front of him, the writing on the open pages illegible and covered in paw prints.

Ignoring the odd sight, he walked up to Ray, who was flipping through a medical catalog. He looked up when Kyle rang the bell, smiling.

"Hey, the usual?" He asked, standing up and reaching for some bottles on the back shelf. Kyle nodded, before turning his attention back to the elf and monster.

"He's really taking it seriously, isn't he?" He asked. Ray followed his gaze and laughed lightly, reaching blindly for the store records. He flipped it open and marked down Kyle's purchase before replying.

"He thinks Moo will attack him in his sleep if he doesn't take detailed notes. As you can see, they've fought about it constantly before you arrived."

Two years ago, Jake probably wouldn't have bothered with all this. Kyle supposed that was just one good thing that happened during his stay.

"By the way, Max said he gave you the Fluff- _Moo_ , becuase he was worried about you getting hurt, but did you only ask for one because of that doll issue?"

Ray looked at him oddly before realization dawned on him.

"Oh, he told you? Well, kind of." He said, putting the records away and handing Kyle the bottles. "It was also because he wouldn't let me get my first choice."

" _Max_ said no to _you_?" Kyle said, stunned. "What was your first choice?"

Ray smiled.

"A Silver Wolf."

 **.**

A/N: Today is a sad day. Today is the day I finally got my old DS Lite working again to play this game(because for some reason it wouldn't work on my 3DS) before the game tells me my save file got corrupted and the data was deleted. Looks like I'm never finishing this game now. Apologies if anyone seems OOC, since a lot of this was written from the perspective of my main RF2 fic that I... haven't even come close to finishing the drafts of, because it's just _that damn long_. That, and it's been years since I even turned the game on(and will probably be longer, now that I have to start over). The idea of "Moo the Fluffy" comes from... I think my Oceans file, where I named a Wooly "Moo" as a joke, and it extended to every other game I own. Ironically, I had to correct "Wooly" to "Fluffy" multiple times in this fic...

Moo the Fluffy will be a constant in all my RF2 fics. He always will be.


End file.
